Minnesota residents gave more than $14 million to 3,434 nonprofit groups on Tuesday as part of an online fundraising effort organized by GiveMN, a philanthropic fundraising website.
More than 38,000 donors participated in the one-day fundraiser for Minnesota nonprofit groups. The fundraiser was held to promote giving to nonprofits throughout the state by raising as much money as possible in one day.
"We raised more than three times as much money for Minnesota nonprofits than any other previous online community fundraising event in the United States," said Carleen Rhodes, president and chief executive of the Minnesota Community Foundation and the Saint Paul Foundation, who co-sponsored the event.
Each donation received a portion of a $500,000 match, sponsored by the Minneapolis Foundation, the Bush Foundation and the Saint Paul Foundation. The three groups also covered transaction fees, in order to ensure that 100 percent of gifts went directly to nonprofits. Because transaction costs were higher than expected, the McKnight Foundation provided additional funding to make up the difference.
GiveMN promised to give grants to the three nonprofit groups with the largest number of participating donors. Because the tally was so close, the online fundraising group ended up giving grants to four organizations. Second Harvest Heartland, a hunger relief group, came in first, followed by the College of Saint Benedict, a Catholic women’s college, Twin Cities Public Television and the Animal Humane Society.
"In Minnesota, our legacy of giving is strong. The tremendous outpouring of support further demonstrates Minnesotans’ generosity and our commitment to helping others," said GiveMN executive director Dana Nelson.
GiveMN is an online nonprofit fundraising group based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is powered by Razoo, a web-based giving network that offers cost-free giving to 1.6 million U.S. nonprofit organizations. All nonprofit organizations listed by the GuideStar information service are eligible to receive funding through GiveMN and the Razoo network.